The Associated Press

2:24 p.m. EDT, March 17, 2012
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—
Lawyers for a former University of Virginia lacrosse player convicted in the beating death of his ex-girlfriend have asked a judge for a hearing on a motion to have the case retried.

George Huguely and his lawyers appeared in Charlottesville Circuit Court on Friday on a separate motion filed on behalf of several media outlets seeking to have the trial's evidence made public.

Judge Edward Hogshire gave media attorney Robert Yates two weeks to come up with a proposal on the best way to make the evidence available. Yates was representing several media outlets, including The Washington Post and Gannett Co. Inc.

The Daily Progress (http://bit.ly/xeQIc3) reports Huguely lawyer Francis McQ. Lawrence also asked for a hearing on a "motion for retrial." No details were given.

"It's not mere speculation that we might end up back here, trying this case again," Huguely attorney Rhonda Quagliana told Hogshire.

If the case would be retried, Quagliana said the task of seating a jury in Charlottesville in the future "absolutely could get worse" if the trial's evidence is made public.

"The people who will have access to these materials are not all responsible journalists," Quagliana told Hogshire. "The Internet does a lot of weird things to reporting."

Yates and Quagliana disagreed over whether previous cases prove the First Amendment applies to judicial records.

Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Chapman also asked the judge to keep the evidence under seal.

The 24-year-old Huguely of Chevy Chase, Md., appeared in a prison jumpsuit and handcuffs at the hearing. He was found guilty of second-degree murder on Feb. 22 and faces 26 years in prison in the 2010 death of U.Va. women's lacrosse player Yeardley Love. No sentencing date has been set.